The Apartments – That’s What The Music Is For – Album Review
by Killian Laher

Albums from The Apartments don’t come around too often, and this is the seventh studio album from Peter Milton Walsh and the first in five years.  For somebody who appeared a little out of step and against the grain when he emerged, in latter years, he has grown as a songwriter, and the songs he sings suit him very well these days.  For his is now the voice of weathered experience, for doomed romantics everywhere.

It opens gently with twinkling piano and strummed guitar of It’s A Casino Life as Walsh sings with his frail voice “close my eyes, you’ll come back…”, with that delivery of the opening line, he takes you into his world in a wonderfully evocative song.  On the understated Afternoons, Walsh introduces the song, singing “your hair tied up, a chiffon scarf”, before being joined on vocals by Natasha Penot, their voices combining beautifully as he “ba ba”s midway through.  The album picks up the pace (a little) with the regretful A Handful of Tomorrow that perfectly soundtracks the onset of autumn.  It’s exquisite misery distilled, punctuated by gorgeous guitar lines to luxuriate in.  One of the finest pieces of music he has put together.

Another Sun Gone Down is another song where nothing is overplayed, just the little touch of piano along with the soaring guitar lines as the singer makes a promise: “Anna, I made a vow, no one can hurt you now”.  It’s glorious music for bright, wintry days.  Mournful brass introduces the title track, a doleful lament as Walsh sings “bring back the days that had you in them”.  The presumably tongue-in-cheek Death Would Be My Best Career Move is a bit of a wallow, sure, but it’s done so tastefully.

The American Resistance is a bit of a departure for the Apartments.  Walsh sings a tale of grim fascination in a gloriously battered mumble, over a finger-picked melody the likes of Mark Eitzel would die for.  The album ends with the equal parts downcast and hopeful You Know We’re Not Supposed To Feel This Way.

Peter Milton Walsh and the Apartments are criminally underappreciated.  These are songs to get lost in, at times seriously dramatic, while at others, subtle and lovely.  And it’s not just how the music sounds, but how it makes you feel.  It’s an album that changes the atmosphere in the room, and possibly The Apartments’ finest album to date.

A Handful of Tomorrow